Mechanical pencil

ABSTRACT

In a lead storage pencil lead is extensible by means of lever means operatively arranged in a side portion of a body casing. The lever means is in the form of a push lever and a ring formation both pivoted to a common pivot and serves to translate a manually applied radial force into an axial force for urging a lead tube in a direction to extend a length of lead from a cap nozzle operatively connected to the tip end of the body casing.

nited States Patent [191 Kamo [ MECHANICAL PENCIL [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Mitsubishi Pencil Co., Ltd., Tokyo,

Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 3, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:347,384'

Mitsunori Kamo, Hiroshima, Japan 52 us. or. 401/65, 401/94 51 1m. (:1 843k 21/22 58 Field of Search 4o1/92-94, 401/65-67, 104-106 [56] g References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,748,229 2/1930 Katz 401/89 1,803,695 5/1931 Garankin 2,340,665 2/1944 Jacobs .l "401/65 [451 Dec. 17, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,202,796 7/1959 France ..401/94 366,739 1/1939 Italy 401/92 Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles 571 ABSTRACT In a lead storage pencil lead is extensible by means of lever means operatively arranged in a side portion of a body casing. The lever nTeans is in the form of a push lever and a ringformation both pivoted to a common pivot and serves to translate a manually applied radial force into an axial force for urging a lead tube in a direction to extend a length of lead from a cap nozzle operatively-connected to the tip end of the body casing.

4 Claims 3 Drawing Figures Pmimmw W4 3; 854, 82 1 PEG? Luau 12 L411. 32 30 11 22 10 20 FIG.2

MECHANICAL PENCIL This invention relates to improvements in an automatic lead storage type pencil, and more particularly to a pencil providing at its side portion a lever means for effecting an extension of lead from the tip of the pencil.

Heretofore, the actuating means for effecting an extension of lead has generally been provided at the tail end of the body casing. When an extension of lead is desired during the writing operation, the user grips a portion of thepencil body casing with four fingers except the thumb and then depresses the actuating means downwardly with the thumb for purpose of extending the lead. This operation is cumbersome for the prolific writer and rather inconvenient for the draftsman as a change of orientation or angle of lead abrasion during the drawing operation brings undesired variations in size and density of the line to be drawn.

, A principal object of the invention is to provide a novel pencil in which a desired extension of leadmay be effected in the normal finger positions with gripping the pencil body withoutentailing any turning of the latter.

It is a feature of the present invention that the leadis extensible by a gentle depression of'a lever means which is operatively arranged in a side portion of the pencil body. I

It is another feature of the invention to provide a pencil of lead storage type comprising an outer body casing having an opening at its side portion, an intermediate sleeve means coaxially arranged and fixed in said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially and slidably connected to said intermediate sleeve means and providing at its one end a lead chucking means-for selectively chucking or releasing the lead and a flange means integrally formed on the periphery of the lead tube and being slidably supported at its opposite end by said intermediate sleeve means, a spring means mounted between said flange means and an inwardly facing shoulder formed in the outer body casing for'always urging the lead tube upwardly, a lever means arranged in'said opening of the outer body casing and operatively associated with the lead tube for urging the lead tube downwardly against the function of said spring means, and a cap nozzle threadedly connected to an end of the outer body casing.

The lever means in accordance with the present invention is generally comprised of a push lever and a force turning ring both pivoted to a common pivot traversing the opening of the outer body casing and serve to turn a radial force manually applied to said push lever into an axial force for urging the lead tube downwardly against the function of the spring means. This lever means is preferably positioned in the finger gripping zone on the pencil body for ensuring a smooth and quick depression of the pushing lever.

A further feature of the invention is therefore to provide a pencil of lead storage type comprising an outer body casing having an opening at its side portion, an intermediate sleeve means coaxially arranged and fixed in said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially and slidably arranged in said intermediate sleeve means and providing at its one end a lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing the. lead and a flange means integrally encompassing a periphery of the lead tube and being slidably supported at its opposite end by said intermediate sleeve means, a spring means mounted between said flange means and an inwardly facing shoulder formed in the outer body casing for always urging the lead tube upwardly, a lever means operatively arranged in the opening provided on the side portion of the outer body casing including a push lever and a force turning ring both pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening and serve to turn a radial force applied to said push lever into an axial force for urging the lead tube downwardly against the function of the spring means, and-a cap nozzle threadedly con-, nected to an end of the outer body casing.

The force turning ring encircles the lead tube with a small clearance and pivoted at its open ends to the ,pivot in engagement with the flange means provided around the periphery of the lead tube. When the push lever is subjected to a gentle depression, the ring turns outwardly and pushes the flange means thereby to urge the lead tube downwardly along an axis of the pencil.

Still a further feature of the invention is to provide a pencil of lead'storage type comprising an outer body casing having an opening at its side portion, an intermediate sleeve means coaxially arranged and fixedin said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially and slidably arranged in said inner sleeve means and providing at its one end a lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing the lead and a flange means intergrally en-' compassing a periphery of the lead tube and being slidably supported at its opposite endby said intermediate sleeve means, a spring means mounted between said flange means and an inwardly facingshoulder formed in the outer body' casing for'always urging the lead tube upwardly, a lever means operatively arranged in the opening provided on a side portion of the body casing and including a push lever and a force turning ring both .pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening,

ventionto provide a pencil of lead storage type comprising an outer body casing having an opening at its side portion and. terminating at a constricted open end, 'a-lead tube coaxially and slidably arranged insaid body casing and providing at its one end a lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing the lead and a flange means integrally encompassing the periphery of the lead tube and being slidably supported at its opposite end by a support ring fixed to an inner circumferential wall of the body casing, a spring means In abutment with the opening provided in the outer body casing, a shallow groove is preferably extended along the body casing toward the writing end thereof for receiving the push lever when the pencil is out of use.

Objects and advantages of the invention will-in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ond embodiment of the lead storage pencil, according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in more detail to the drawings, wherein like parts are indicated by like reference numerals and initially to FIG. 1, there is illustrated therein in longitudinally sectioned view an outer body casing of the lead storage pencil made of steel, synthetic resin and other materials and sh'apedinto a hollow tube of predetermined diameter and length.

The outer body casing at-its open end-has an internal thread formation. An externally threaded element threadedly engages the threaded portion of the casing and extends therebeyond. As seen in FIG. 1 a cap nozzle 12 is threaded to the element extension. The outer body casing at its one side portion and usually in the mediate tube 20 which is fixed therein by means of annular ring 22.

To the intermediate tube 20 is coaxially and slidably connected a lead tube 24 having at its one end a'chuck member 26 for selectively chucking or releasing a lead 28. Around the periphery of the lead tube 28 in the position near the opening 16 of the outer body casing 10 is integrally provided a flange 30.

Between the flange 30 and a second flange 32 on the lead tube 28 is mounted a spiral spring 34 which always urges the lead tube 24 upwardly against a-functionof the resilient mean for urging the lead tube downwardly hereinafter described. The lead tube 24 at its opposite end is slidably supported by an open end of the intermediate tube 20. Y

The lever means operative to extend the lead includes a lever 36 which at its one endis pivoted to a pivot 38 traversing the opening 16 and a push ring 40 which at its open ends is also pivoted to the pivot 38 as best shown in FIG. 2 .and remains in engagementwith the flange 30'as best shown in FIG. 1. The pivoted end of the lever 36 is provided with a pawl 42 adapted to push a part of the push ring 40 when the lever 36 is depressed manually.

The lever 36 is usually laidin the shallow groove and in use of the pencil it is raised to the position aszshown in FIG. 1. When an extension of the lead is desired, the lever 36 is manually pushed downwardly by the user of the pencil and then a radial force applied by the user is converted by the push ring 40 into an axial force along an axis of the pencil so that the push ring 40 urges the flange 30 against the function of the spiral spring 34 to permit a disengagement of the chuck member 26 from 'a clamp ring 44 secured to a threaded connection 14 thereby to release the lead for permitting an extension thereof.

In the other embodiment as best shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate tube 20 (of FIG. 1) is replaced by tube 46 which is coaxially and slidably arranged in the body casing 10 through annular ring 22. The tube 46 will be seen to be integrally formed with the tube portion 24.

In the mechanical pencil according to the invention,

an aligned recess contiguous to said opening, said casing terminating in a threaded end portion, a threaded, axially apertured, element threadedly engaging said threaded end portion of said casing and having a length to provide a threaded section extending beyond said end of the casing, said threaded element having an end face adjacent said recess, intermediate tube means coaxially disposed within and fixed to said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially disposed relative to said casing and to said tube means for sliding movement relative to the latter and within and through the aperture in said element and being integrally formed at the projecting end thereof with lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing lead from the lead tube and with first and second flange'means, one of which is in the region of said opening in the bodycasing for providing an abutment surface, said lead tube being slidably supported by said intermediate tube means, spring means mounted between said abutment surface of said one of said flange means and the other of said flange means for normally urging the lead tube in a firstdirection, said other of said flange means normally engaging said end face of said element, force translating means 7 for translating a radially applied manual force to an axially directed force and comprisinga manually operable lever and a ring formation each being pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening in the side portion of the casing, said ring formation, on depression of said moving said lead in said second direction,- and a cap nozzle threadedly engaging said threaded extension of said element and provided with an end opening through which an end of lead is projectable on release of the lead by the chucking means on depression of said lever against said bias of said spring.

2. The storage pencil according to claim 1, wherein said ring formation is less than 360 and surrounds the lead tube with a slight clearance, said ring formation being pivoted at its ends to the common pivot and being in engagement with the flange means when said lever is moved to its operative position out of said recess in said casing.

3. A lead storage pencil according to claim 1, wherein said body casing has an internally threaded end portion threadedly engaged by external threads on said threaded element, said threaded member having a length for threaded connection of said cap nozzle thereto in abutment with the threaded end portion of the casing.

v41. A lead storage pencil comprising an outer body casing formed at its side portion with an opening and an aligned recess contiguous to said opening, said casing terminating in a threaded end portion, a threaded,

axially apertured, element threadedly engaging said threaded end portion of said casing and being of a the aperture in said element and being integrally formed at the projecting end thereof. with lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing lead from the lead tube and with first and second flange means, one of which is in the region of said opening in the body casing for providing an abutment surface, spring means mounted between said abutment surface of one of said flange means and the other of said flange means for normally urging said lead'tube in a first direction, said other of said flange means normally engaging said end face of said element, force translating means for translating a radially applied manual force to an axially directed force and comprising a manually operable lever and a ring formation each being pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening in the side portion of the casing, said ring formation, on depression of said lever, acting on said one of said flange means to urge the lead tube in a second direction opposite to the first direction against the bias of the spring, said leverv when a writing operation isterminated being movablefor positioning within said recess on movement of said lever in a direction opposite to its direction of depression for moving said lead in 'said second direction, and

a cap nozzle threadedly engaging said threaded exten-' 

1. A lead storage pencil comprising an outer body casing formed at its Side portion with an opening and an aligned recess contiguous to said opening, said casing terminating in a threaded end portion, a threaded, axially apertured, element threadedly engaging said threaded end portion of said casing and having a length to provide a threaded section extending beyond said end of the casing, said threaded element having an end face adjacent said recess, intermediate tube means coaxially disposed within and fixed to said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially disposed relative to said casing and to said tube means for sliding movement relative to the latter and within and through the aperture in said element and being integrally formed at the projecting end thereof with lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing lead from the lead tube and with first and second flange means, one of which is in the region of said opening in the body casing for providing an abutment surface, said lead tube being slidably supported by said intermediate tube means, spring means mounted between said abutment surface of said one of said flange means and the other of said flange means for normally urging the lead tube in a first direction, said other of said flange means normally engaging said end face of said element, force translating means for translating a radially applied manual force to an axially directed force and comprising a manually operable lever and a ring formation each being pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening in the side portion of the casing, said ring formation, on depression of said lever, acting on said one of said flange means to urge the lead tube in a second direction opposite to said first direction against the bias of said spring, said lever when a writing operation is terminated being movable for positioning within said recess on movement of said lever in a direction opposite to its direction of depression for moving said lead in said second direction, and a cap nozzle threadedly engaging said threaded extension of said element and provided with an end opening through which an end of lead is projectable on release of the lead by the chucking means on depression of said lever against said bias of said spring.
 2. The storage pencil according to claim 1, wherein said ring formation is less than 360* and surrounds the lead tube with a slight clearance, said ring formation being pivoted at its ends to the common pivot and being in engagement with the flange means when said lever is moved to its operative position out of said recess in said casing.
 3. A lead storage pencil according to claim 1, wherein said body casing has an internally threaded end portion threadedly engaged by external threads on said threaded element, said threaded member having a length for threaded connection of said cap nozzle thereto in abutment with the threaded end portion of the casing.
 4. A lead storage pencil comprising an outer body casing formed at its side portion with an opening and an aligned recess contiguous to said opening, said casing terminating in a threaded end portion, a threaded, axially apertured, element threadedly engaging said threaded end portion of said casing and being of a length to provide a threaded section extending beyond said end of the casing, said threaded element having an end face adjacent said recess, annular ring means fixed to said outer body casing, a lead tube coaxially disposed relative to said casing for sliding movement relative to said annular ring means and within and through the aperture in said element and being integrally formed at the projecting end thereof with lead chucking means for selectively chucking or releasing lead from the lead tube and with first and second flange means, one of which is in the region of said opening in the body casing for providing an abutment surface, spring means mounted between said abutment surface of one of said flange means and the other of said flange means for normally urging said lead tube in a first direction, said other of said flange means nOrmally engaging said end face of said element, force translating means for translating a radially applied manual force to an axially directed force and comprising a manually operable lever and a ring formation each being pivoted to a common pivot traversing said opening in the side portion of the casing, said ring formation, on depression of said lever, acting on said one of said flange means to urge the lead tube in a second direction opposite to the first direction against the bias of the spring, said lever when a writing operation is terminated being movable for positioning within said recess on movement of said lever in a direction opposite to its direction of depression for moving said lead in said second direction, and a cap nozzle threadedly engaging said threaded extension of said element and provided with an end opening through which an end of lead is projectable on release of the lead by the chucking means on depression of said lever against said bias of said spring. 